“In connection with the feast of St. George which is being celebrated this week in Victoria, Gozo, the La Stella Philharmonic Society and St. George’s Parish, in a joint statement on Facebook, said that the are “having to resort to a public statement in order to appeal again to the authorities and all concerned in order to maintain order in St. George’s Square.”
The statement is urging that they “respect the permits of the feast in such a way that there are no obstacles to the conduct of the marches, the liturgical functions and the safety of the public.”
Above all, the La Stella Philharmonic Society and St. George’s Parish said that they “also expect more respect from some of the commercial establishments within the square for the feast, the artistic scaffolding, the volunteers involved in the same feast and the public.”
The statement concluded by saying that they “do not wish to be compelled to resort to further actions in the event of a recurrence of the situations which occurred on Sunday, the 10th and Tuesday, the 12th of July during activities organised by the La Stella Philharmonic Society in connection with the feast of St. George.”
Local residents speaking to Gozo News said that at the end of last week Police and authorities were in St George’s Square speaking to the establishments. Various tables and chairs were removed, however, almost before they had left the Square, some of the establishments had reinstated the tables and chairs back to where they were.
Comments on Facebook relating to the statement mentioned that the square has been “literally highjacked” all the time, with all the tables and chairs there, not just during the feast, so much so that people with pushchairs etc have problems walking though. They are calling for regular enforcement to be carried out.
It was also noted that there is currently nowhere for the bandstand to be placed, which has always previously been positioned in St George’s Square.
Another comment pointed out that the same problems occur when there are church functions such as weddings and funerals.
Another person noted that emergency vehicles have no access to the square and a person who was taken ill in the church recently had to be taken to the waiting ambulance on foot, this has happened several times before.
Photo: St George’s Square – copyright Gozo News